$4 million settlement in chimp attack lawsuit

Tom Cleary

Updated
12:07 am EST, Friday, November 30, 2012

Charla Nash leaves the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn., accompanied by her brother Steve Nash on Friday, August 10, 2012. Court documents obtained by the AP on Thursday Nov. 29, 2012 show a settlement between Nash's family and Herold's estate was approved by the Stamford Probate Court on Sept. 25 and the two sides met on Nov. 13 to finalize it. less

Charla Nash leaves the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn., accompanied by her brother Steve Nash on Friday, August 10, 2012. Court documents obtained by the AP on Thursday Nov. 29, 2012 show a ... more

Charla Nash leaves the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn., accompanied by her brother Steve Nash on Friday, August 10, 2012. Court documents obtained by the AP on Thursday Nov. 29, 2012 show a settlement between Nash's family and Herold's estate was approved by the Stamford Probate Court on Sept. 25 and the two sides met on Nov. 13 to finalize it. less

Charla Nash leaves the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn., accompanied by her brother Steve Nash on Friday, August 10, 2012. Court documents obtained by the AP on Thursday Nov. 29, 2012 show a ... more

For Charla Nash, who was blinded, lost her hands and underwent a full face transplant after she was mauled by a crazed chimp in Stamford more than three years ago, every day is a battle for dignity and survival.

But on Thursday, one of those battles -- a fight between the estate of the animal's now-dead owner, Sandra Herold, and Nash's attorneys over a lawsuit filed after the attack -- was settled, as the two parties reached a nearly $4 million agreement, giving her some needed financial help.

Filed in Stamford Probate Court, the settlement agreement calls for Herold's estate to provide Nash with $3.4 million in real estate, $331,000 in cash, $140,000 in machinery and equipment and $44,000 in vehicles, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

"In the scheme of things (the money) is totally inadequate to address Charla's medical needs, lifestyle needs, and the pain and suffering she has endured," said Bridgeport lawyer Charles Willinger, who represented Nash. "It is almost impossible to calculate a dollar amount of damages sustained by Charla. Unfortunately, Sandra Herold's estate was limited in funds."

The lawsuit was filed in 2009 on behalf of Nash by her brother, Michael Nash, in state Superior Court in Stamford. They were seeking $50 million in damages.

"I am not at liberty to go into the details," Leydon said Thursday afternoon. "But my clients and I feel it was a fair compromise on all sides and we are pleased to resolve the matter."

Leydon had argued that Herold's estate couldn't be sued because Charla Nash was an employee of Herold and any claims were a worker's compensation matter.

Nash, 57, formerly of Stamford, now lives in a nursing facility outside of Boston. In February 2009 she was brutally attacked by Travis the chimpanzee outside a North Stamford home after the 200-pound primate went berserk, ripping off Nash's nose, lips, eyelids and hands before it was shot by a police officer. Nash had gone to the house to assist the chimpanzee's owner, a friend who she also had worked for.

Since the attack, Nash has had several surgeries, including a face transplant in 2011.

"She has good days and bad days," said Willinger. "She has had, and continues to have, a number of procedures. She is a very courageous woman and overall she's holding up all right.

"Her world is very limited; She's a lonely person right now," Willinger said.

Nash lives in total darkness, without hands, and is permanently scarred emotionally, psycholically and physically, her attorneys say.

"She'll never be able to see (daughter) Briana and, maybe even worse, she'll never be able to hold her hand," Willinger said in August.

The Nash family has sought to file a lawsuit against the state Department of Environmental Protection for $150 million, but is waiting for permission to do so from the state claims commissioner. The state is immune from lawsuits without the claims commissioner's approval.

"We believe that the most-culpable entity is the state of Connecticut DEP," Willinger said Thursday. "They permitted Sandra Herold to possess the chimp, which she had no business possessing. We will vigorously continue to pursue our case against the state."

In August, the state's attorney general, George Jepsen, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. A hearing was held then in Hartford, and the claims commissioner, J. Paul Vance Jr., has yet to make a decision on the motion.

"I feel the DEP failed to do their job, and as my lawyers have stated, I hope and pray that the commissioner will give me my day in court," Nash told reporters after the August hearing. "And I also pray and I hope this never happens to anyone else again. It's not nice."

The state has argued that the DEP, now known as the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) would likely have had to take Herold to court over Travis, and that outcome would have been uncertain, given the primate did not have a record of dangerous incidents.

Travis had starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola when he was younger and made an appearance on the "The Maury Povich Show." The chimpanzee was the constant companion of the widowed Herold and was fed steak, lobster and ice cream. The chimp could eat at the table, drink wine from a stemmed glass, use the toilet and dress and bathe himself.

A month after the mauling, Nash's family sued Herold for alleged negligence and recklessness. The lawsuit alleged Herold knew Travis was dangerous but failed to confine him to a secure area and allowed him to roam her property. It also claimed Herold gave the chimp medication that exacerbated his "violent propensities."

Herold died in May 2010, complicating the legal process.

Travis had previously bitten another woman's hand and tried to drag her into a car in 1996, bit a man's thumb two years later and escaped from her home and roamed downtown Stamford for hours being captured in 2003, according to the lawsuit.